


maybe in a better world

by craftingdead



Series: charlie will make cd a common tag if it kills them [34]
Category: The Crafting Dead
Genre: Gen, Implied Relationships, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-06-29 12:18:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19830067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/craftingdead/pseuds/craftingdead
Summary: Barney tells a story, Sky tries to tell the truth, and Jess watches it all unfold.(Or, three peas in a pod try to figure out some trace of a backstory; two peas in a pod try and figure out their future; one pea just looks to the side and sighs.)





	maybe in a better world

“So,” Barney said, spreading his hands out in the air in front of him. He wore a stupid grin like a crown and didn’t bother with Jess making fun of his hand motions. “Imagine this: I’m in eighth grade, it’s pouring outside, I’m just trying to get home—”

“Oh my god,” Sky moaned, dragging his hands down his face. “Please shut up. Shut the fuck up, Jess respects me.”

Jess laughed out loud at that, and Sky scowled at her. Seemingly ignoring that, Barney cackled out a, “She won’t anymore!” as Jess punched Sky in the arm. Hard. Sky cursed at her and Jess cursed right back

“Okay, okay, both of you, quiets now, I’m telling a story.” That, surprisingly, shut them up; Jess looked intrigued, Sky looked humiliated. “So, I’m walking home, right? It’s stormy as fuck outside when suddenly, I get knocked over. It’s a clean hit, too; one moment I’m standing up, the next I’m sprawled across the floor.”

“It wasn’t that bad!” Sky protested, and Barney made a “zip it” motion with one of his hands, dragging it across his lips. Sky slumped back and grumbled.

“So this scrawny kid stands gets off of me and says, ‘What the fuck? Why weren’t you watching where you were going?’ Well, for one, scrawny kid, I was standing in front of you, looking ahead of me to make sure no cars swerved off the road and took me down in one swift motion. Secondly, scrawny kid—”

“I wasn’t that scrawny!”

“You were pretty scrawny. So I go, ‘You ran into me, dude,’ but instead of acknowledging it, he takes out his phone and like, texts someone on it and says, ‘You shouldn’t have done that. Now my mom has to pick me up. She said that if I’m late to get back home again, I’m in big trouble, because it worries me—”

“Hey, I did not take out my phone! I just moaned about how annoying it would be dealing with her if I was late again! You never even saw my phone, I’m calling bullshit on that park, Barney, shut the fuck up and let me tell the story if you keep on lying like this—”

“—so I bring up, ‘Hey, my mom’s will really not like it if I’m late as well, since I usually am not, so I’ll have to go, man, sorry for getting you in trouble as well,’ and he stops and goes ‘Hey, wait a minute, I never even got your name’ like it’s some meet cute or whatever. I’m soaked through at this point, and some random person I’ve never seen before—”

“—how many times have you brought up seeing me around school before we properly met, Barney? How many times. How many!”

“—just made me scrape my knee and be late and is also now demanding my name so I’m like, ‘Um, okay, weirdo, my name is—”

Jess had almost no idea where the story was going, but Sky and Barney looked entertained, bickering back and forth. It gave her the vibe that they had told the story a million different times to a million different people, with how the facts changed every other line.

Sky in particular certainly looked annoyed, but in a fond way. He looked at Barney with fond and happy eyes as they told the story, contradicting his tone and the words he threw at Barney whenever he lost an argument. Jess propped her head up with her knuckles and gazed at them with drooping eyes, content to just exist around them, instead of truly listen.

Barney reached over and grabbed Sky by the collar of his shirt and then shoved his head underneath his arm, using his other arm to give him a noogie that left Sky screaming over dramatically and shoving him away (with his fists).

“At least I’m not a fucking liar, Barnaby P. Fucking Wrinkleman or whatever your dumbass college nickname was.”

“At least my name isn’t ‘Sky Sky!’”

“At least I have sexier hair than you!   
  


“At least I’m taller than you!”

“At least—”

“‘At least, the pathogen cannot transfer to animals through bite or infected meat. It can only be transmitted through direct transfer of the human’s blood to the animal’s blood, and even then it is a lesser version of the virus, and didn’t even work during the majority of tests. The only working specimen that could hold the virus were mice but thankfully, by the way they interact around and with humans, it would be very hard for the virus to transmit naturally through to them, therefore dissolving the further spread of disease through animal bites and such, similar to rabies and other diseases. A problem with mosquitos pops up, but a study has shown that the virus often shuts down and kills insects if they had digested infected blood, and certain types of flies have started avoiding infected bodies, instead hovering around living and fully dead ones. This conclusion suggests that—”

Jess watched through the doorway as Sky paced around the room, reading out loud from a pamphlet that Jin gave him earlier, if only to clear his mind. He was so desperate for any kind of answer of why or how the… the whole… the whole incident would have happened to Barney and, Jin, tired of his pestering, threw books and studies written about it in the weeks before the main outburst and the weeks before society truly started collapsing and told him to “look it up.”

“…the virus mainly seems to be engineered around the rabies virus, as no fungi was involved in it, other than perhaps testing and borrowed ideas. In similar, the virus also seems to either be inspired or directly affected and developed by either a prion, a developing one, or a brain and system being affected by one in progress. As it is not a full prion, a cure could still be possible; however, it seems engineered in a way that makes both researching the disease further and brainstorming of a cure much harder than originally intended…”

(“Sky,” she could call out, if she knew that it would work. “Sky,” she might have called out, if she was anything like herself before the apocalypse. “Sky,” she would say much later, rubbing his back as he threw up outside, overwhelmed by their whole situation.)

Instead, she folded her arms, leaned against the doorway, and listened.

His brows were furrowed; his look was so intense that Jess was amazed that he wasn’t burning straight through the paper; his fingers looked to have multiple paper cuts on them—from what specifically? She’d never know. But she could always brainstorm. And, maybe, once he quit his pacing, get him a band-aid or two.

(“Jin,” she would beg, wanting something that could help his mind. “Jin,” she demanded, wanting more information, a way, a reason, Ross’s motives—anything! “Jin,” she murmured, watching him with his head in his hands.)

“S-so that means that, uh, uh, a zombie killed could be revived, but i-it would possibly have severe brain damage and also a l-lack of memory. Internal damage would also a very likely but—oh, who the fuck am I kidding with this shit? He’s not coming  _ back!” _

Jess watched as he threw a book across the room and turned her head to the side.

(“Ghetto!” she called out, desperate for someone who could understand his troubles. “Shark,” she asked, wanting someone watch, analyze, make sure nothing got out of control in case the rest of them couldn’t. “AK—” she tried, and then gave up.)

Maybe in a better world she would walk over to him and hug him, tell him that everything was going to be alright. Even though it wouldn’t maybe her presence could comfort him. Maybe Sky would have noticed her before his breakdown, and she could have talked some, any sense into him. Maybe he could get proper help, maybe there would be a better explanation, maybe Barney could have had a proper last word and burial. Maybe.

Jess spared one last look back at Sky before walking away. She was due to scout around the White House with Ghetto and Shark today. And, right now, no one could help Sky.

Not even her.


End file.
